Elevator.



J; P. ODONNELL,

ELEVATOR;

APPLICATION FILED MAY 29,4908.

Patented May 25, 1909.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

I r (If! zll J. P. O'DONNELL. ELEVATOR. APPLICATION FILED MAY 29, 1908.

922,620. Patented May 25, 1909.

3 SHBBTB-SHEET 2.

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I; 5 I i UNTTED TATES hjgTENT OFFTCE.

JOSEPH P. ODONNELL, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

ELEVATOR.

Application filed May 29, 1908.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that i, Josnrn P. ODoNNnLL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cleveland, in the county of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in lllevators, and dodeclare that the follmving is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe invention, which will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to improvements in elevators, and the inventionconsists in automatically controlled foldable gates located at elevatorlandings and adapted to be opened and closed by the elevator car when itpasses a landing, all substantially as shown and described andparticularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front perspective view of anelevator landing, showing the gates and hatches closed. Fig. 2 is afrontperspective view of the parts shown in Fig. 1 with gates and hatchesraised half way by the ascending elevator car, and Fig. 3 is a frontperspective view showing the gates and hatches wide open and theelevator at the landing.

The idea of the invention as thus shown is plainly indicated in theseveral views, and has as its object and novelty the automatic controlof the elevator gates at the respective landings, such control beingfrom and by the elevator car E initially, so that when the car has lefta landing and gone in either direction, the said gates will bepositively and mechanically closed, but when stopped at a landing, orwhen passing the same in either direction, they will be as positivelyand mechanically opened. This eliminates the elevator man or otherpersonal attendant, and brings the gates within the certainties of anunfailing automatic mechanical operation that can be implicitly reliedupon at all times. To these several ends the said gates are dual or inpairs at each landing, meeting at the center of the landing front torear, substantially as shown. Each gate comprises a fixed post a orequivalent support of suitable elevation, say three feet high, an innerpost 0 on one of the hatclndoors, and a top cross connecting bar orrail 1) jointedly engaged at its ends in any suitable way with both saidposts a and c.

The hatch doors, H, are hinged as usual to be opened by the elevator carand to close when the car has passed in either direction, and as saidgates are partially supported on Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 25, 1909.

Serial N0. 435,635.

said doors or covers, as shown, they will also operate as indicated inthe several views and fold and unfold with the opening and closing ofsaid doors Furthermore, the top of the elevator car is shown herein asadapted to contact with and raise the doors H, Fig. 2, and it may haveany suitable top construction to serve this purpose, a bow J being shownin this instance, and thus it follows that the car can not pass alanding upward without at the same time lifting its hatch coverings andopening the gate bars G, and said hatch doors or coverings H are soarranged that they close by gravity when the car has passed out of theirway, up or down. This accounts for the operation of the gates G inconnection with the hatch doors, but, obviously, said gates might beoperated in like manner by any suitable substitute for said doors andwhich would respond, as they do, to the contact of the ear or platformE, and hence any hinged or pivoted parts which are the equivalent ofsaid doors and arranged to operate with the ele vator car substantiallyas they do, may be employed and be entirely within the spirit andpurpose of my invention. In the descent of the elevator car the closeddoors H are automatically opened by mechanism comprising the severalparts designated by 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively, and which are designedto be actuated when contacted by the bottom of the car in its descent.Thus, 2 represents a pivotally suspended or hanging fulcrum bar, havingits upper end provided with a pivotal or rocking confinement in one ofthe side posts or run ways in the elevator shaft, while its lower endhas a lever 3 hinged at about its middle thereon which is pivoted at itslower end on the corres onding hatchdoor, or door at that side. link orrod 4 connects the upper end of lever 3 with a contact arm 5 adapted tocontact with the bottom of the car and which is pivotally engaged at itsouter end near the upper end of hanging bar 2 and has link 4 connectedtherewith nearest its inner end. Both hatch-doors are alike providedwith an actuating or opening equipment of this kind; It follows thatwhen said parts are in their normal position, which they take by gravitythrough the hatch-doors, they are positioned as seen in Fig. 1 and thehatch-doors are closed. Then as the car descends it strikes the innereX- tremities of arms 5 through its bottom curved or bowed parts at, andthis depresses the free upper ends of lower inclined levers 3 throughthe long links 4 and a fulcrum of hanging bars 2 to lift'the doors. Thedoors H are thus first raised into position Fig. 2, say half Way open,and then as a completed operation they are swung into wide openposition, Fig. 3, before the car can reach the doors, and all the partsare out of the way for the descent. In this latter operation all thestrain would come on the several parts 2, 3, 4 and 5 if there were nohelp to lift the hatch-doors, and to relieve such strain I have providedeach door with a counter weight W, which is supported by an arm 8 rigidwith the outer end of the top-bar b of the gate and behind or outside ofposts a. Said arms are shown as slightly curved toward their extremityand are engaged at their ends with supporting stem or rod 9 on which thecounter weights W are engaged, but any equivalent supports for saidweights may be employed, such as a chain. However, the weight is sodisposed in respect to said arm that it will act only during the firstpart of the lift of the hatch-doors when help is especially needed,after which it will rest on the floor. Then as the door closes it willcome into action again to promote easy and noiseless closing. Saidweights furthermore are differential in each grou and are slidablycarried by a differentia core 12 on rod 9, so that in seating theweights will come to rest successively and not all at once, and they arepicked up one at a time in like manner.

I/Vhat I claim is: V

1. In elevators, a counterweight comprising a series of separateweights, a core of differential size separately supporting said weightsand means carrying said core adapted to seat and raise said weightssuccessively, in combination with hatch-doors operatively connected withsaid weights.

2. A counterweight for elevator gates having a differential core andseparate differential weights supported slidably on said core, a rodcarrying said core, a folding gate carrying said rod, and a hatch-doorconnectedwith said gate.

3. In elevator hatch coverings, a pair of doors adapted to fold inwardover the hatch, in combination with a pair of folding gates com risingtwo standards for each gate, one of w ich is supported on thecorresponding door, a gate rail pivotally engaged at its ends with saidstandards and having an arm rigid with its outer end, and acounterweight attached to said arm.

4. The combination of the folding hatch doors with the gates at thefront thereof comprising one fixed standard for each gate and onepivoted standard at the inner edge of each door, a cross rail pivotallyconnected with each set of standards and provided with a lateralprojection at one end and a counterweight comprising a plurality ofseparate parts adapted to be picked up and to be deposited successively.

5. The hatch doors adapted. to fold inwardly and hinged at their outeredges, in combination with folding gates comprising a standard pivotedon each door and a fixed standard outside the door and cross railssupported on said standards and having each a lateral arm at its outerend, a differentially sized core suspended from each arm and separateweight members slidably mounted on said core.

6. The hatch doors and the folding gates therefor, in combination with acounter Weight for each door comprising a core of differential crosssection'and a fixed standard on which it is slidably mounted, a seriesof weight members slidably mounted on said core and operatingconnections between the said core and the corresponding gate.

7. The hatch doors and the elevator car and a folding gate for eachdoor, in combination with means to open said doors when the car descendsconsisting of curved bearing parts on the bottom of the car andmechanism connected with each door to raise the same comprising a lever5 to engage said bearing part, the lever 3 for the door and theoperating links 2 and l, and means to assist in initially lifting saiddoors comprising a counter weight engaged with the gate for each doorhaving a series of weight members adapted to be deposited successivelyas opening proceeds.

8. The combination of the folding hatch doors and the folding gates, theelevator car and the means for opening the doors from contact with thebottom of the car comprising the levers 3 and 5 and the links 2 and 4constructed and arranged as shown, the said folding gates each having across bar I) with a lateral projection at its outer end and a counterweight suspended from said arm and adapted to assist in lifting thefolding doors from their rest across the hatch.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of twowitnesses.

JOSEPH P. ODONNELL.

Witnesses E. M. Frsnnn, F. O. MUssUN.

